By Stephen K. Peeples
Signal Contributing Writer
Notorious rock band Buckcherry will celebrate 20 years on the charts and the imminent release of their eighth album when they play the Canyon Santa Clarita Thursday night, Jan. 17.
“Warpaint,” due March 8, adds to Buckcherry’s impressive legacy, capturing the energy of their incendiary live show and the personal, anything-goes lyricism of lead singer Josh Todd.
Founded by the SoCal native in 1995, Buckcherry scored gold for their eponymous debut in 1999, sparked by the hit single “Lit.” They followed with the albums “Time Bomb” (2001), “15” (2006), “Black Butterfly” (2008), “All Night Long” (2010), “Confessions” (2013) and “Rock ’n’ Roll” (2015), with 2014’s “F**k” EP sandwiched between the last two.
For the “Warpaint” sessions in November, produced by Mike Plotnikoff (“Halestorm,” “All That Remains”), Todd’s bandmates included Stevie D. (guitar, backing vocals, joined in 2005); Kelly LeMieux (bass, backing vocals, 2013); Kevin Roentgen (lead guitar, backing vocals, 2017); and Sean Winchester (drums, 2005). Francis Ruiz replaced Winchester for the upcoming “Warpaint” tour.
The sessions followed several months of intense writing and roadwork. “We did the Gen X package tour with Lit, POD and Alien Ant Farm all summer,” he said. “Right after that, we recorded ‘War Paint.’ I don’t want to oversell it, but it is a really great Buckcherry record.”
“You’ll hear all the usual suspects, all the hits of course,” Todd said. “And we’re going to do ‘Head like a Hole,’ a track we dropped online from ‘Warpaint.’ We’ll probably do one or two more from ‘Warpaint’ because no one really knows them.”
Find the Canyon Santa Clarita on the ground floor of the Westfield Valencia Town Center. Get tickets at the box office 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, by phone at 888-645-5006, or via TicketMaster.com. For more info, visit WheremusicmeetstheSoul.com. Santa Clarita journalist and Grammy nominee. Stephen K. Peeples has covered the SCV music scene since 2004. Contact him via stephenkpeeples.com.